Letters to the Editor: Skiing is a risky sport. California resorts are failing to boost safety
To the editor: Your article points out distressing safety trends at ski resorts. (“GoPros, gummies, reckless abandon: Why ski slopes are getting more dangerous,” March 22)
When my son was young and just learning to snowboard at Mammoth Mountain, he was hit from behind by a boarder making a beeline to the bottom at out-of-control speed. Turns out the boarder was an instructor. My son was taken to Mammoth Hospital for evaluation and thankfully, he only a suffered a concussion (even with his helmet on).
Skiing is a risky sport, but resorts can do better to provide a safe experience. Start with educational signs on lifts and more ski patrol units looking out for reckless skiers and riders. Barreling out of control down a mountain should result in loss of a lift ticket, and drunk riders should be taken off the slopes — just as drunk drivers should be off the roads. As a 66-year-old lifelong skier, I can take care of myself, but I need the resort to provide sane conditions so that I can realize my hope to ski into my 80s.
Gloria Sefton, Trabuco Canyon
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To the editor: Like the Long Beach doctor mentioned in your article, I was hit and knocked to the ground recently by a reckless snowboarder, near the end of a run while skiing in Mammoth. He came at me from the side, somewhat perpendicular, giving me just a millisecond to notice him before he slid into me at ground level, knocking me off my skis. We both fell. I landed on my shoulder, which was injured.
I hadn’t skied in 25 years, and returned to the slopes having recently joined a local ski club with members ranging in age from 40 to 80-plus. After recovering, I spent the next five to 10 minutes talking to the other skiier, who was from Georgia. He was in his late 20s, somewhat apologetic and in his words, had been “watching and trying to keep up with my friends, who were going fast.” Up to that point, in two days back on the slopes, I had not fallen once, and had gone from beginner to intermediate runs.
Two things need to happen to make ski areas safer: First, boarders and skiers need to pay attention to others and abide by the rules posted, which indicate that anyone downhill from you has the right of way, and it’s your responsibility to maintain control and avoid all obstacles. Second, Mammoth and the other ski areas (and their management) must take seriously these accidents. Instead of absolving themselves of liability, which they do when you buy a ticket, they need to make the slopes safer.
Buying a ski pass or day pass should require some sort of written/online safety test or video, like they do at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Adding more prominent signage on the actual runs could also help. Making people slow their speed in high traffic areas, where runs merge, is also important.
Victoria Sterling, Malibu
